Calderon

We decide whether the one-year time limit for filing a petition for writ of habeas corpus, enacted in section 101 of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), P.L. 104-132, 1996 U.S.C.C.A.N. (110 Stat.) 1214, 1217, is a statute of limitations subject to equitable tolling or an inflexible limitation on federal court jurisdiction.

I. Background

Real party in interest Rodney Gene Beeler was convicted of first-degree murder by a California jury and sentenced to death. He unsuccessfully pursued a direct appeal in the state courts, see People v. Beeler, 9 Cal.4th 953 , 39 Cal.Rptr.2d 607 , 891 P.2d 153 (1995), ending with the Supreme Court’s denial of his petition for writ of certiorari on January 8, 1996. See Beeler v. California, — U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 723 , 133 L.Ed.2d 675 (1996). Prior to that date, the California Supreme Court had also denied Beeler’s petition for writ of habeas corpus. Having thus exhausted his state remedies, Beeler filed a pro se request for appointment of counsel and stay of execution in federal district court. The court granted Beeler’s motion for a stay and appointed counsel, Scott Braden and Karen Sehryver, to represent him. It also…